Volkswagen is powering up efforts to show the world it’s serious about becoming a major player in the United States with its Chattanooga plant serving as the cornerstone of its growth plan.
Today at its Virginia U.S. headquarters, top officials of the German company will tell more than 100 automotive journalists, most of whom are from Europe and China, that it’s full speed ahead in making cars again in America after two decades.
“We’re sticking to the plan and making progress,” Volks-wagen Group of America’s Steve Keyes said about the $1 billion plant set to open in little more than a year.
A number of journalists have been skeptical about the automaker’s plan to make up ground in the United States after driving away from producing cars here in 1988 when it closed a Pennsylvania plant, he said.
“We need to change that perception,” Mr. Keyes said, noting today’s event is part of a ramp up of marketing initiatives for its U.S. strategy dubbed “Mach 18.”